my Royal Treasury," and nuns came to wor
ship and ponder eternity.
But gradually their temporal quarters de
cayed. By 1903 the Bishop felt that repairs
would be too costly; the Carmelites moved
out, and the old convent and neighborhood
began a swift decline.
In 1959 young dime-store heir Robert F.
Woolworth entered the picture. The old place
was in a sorry state, but he saw only its his
toric past and potential future. Working with
the Puerto Rican Institute of Culture, Mr.
Woolworth invested where King Philip had
refused, and restored Dofia Ana's old house
of "limestone, wood, brick, and mortar." The
result-El Convento Hotel, which opened
last January.
"I enjoy new things, and old things, and
challenges," Fred Woolworth said in expla
nation of his investment. Sitting in El Con
vento's courtyard, he told me of his three
year project, how workmen had tunneled
762
through four-foot walls to put in air-con
ditioning ducts, how he had matched old
tiles with clay from the Dominican Republic.
Half a dozen sightseers walked past us,
speaking animated Spanish.
"We have had as many as 8,000 visitors on
a single Sunday, especially local people," Mr.
Woolworth said.
Some old Puerto Rican families have shown
even greater interest; they have given family
heirlooms for display in the galleries.
Puerto Ricans Preserve Their Past
Such restoration projects are not limited
to private enterprise. There is La Fortaleza,
whose stone walls were raised by defense
minded Spaniards early in the 16th century.
After a fire in 1625 necessitated reconstruc
tion, it became the residence of the Governor,
and remains so to this day. But in 1940, the
massive structure sadly needed repair, and
there was talk of abandonment. Instead, the